MJF Calls It "Ridiculous" That He Wants Inner Circle To Turn On Chris Jericho
AEW star MJF was on today's episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily where he and Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman discussed MJF's desire to be part of The Inner Circle. Hausman noted that some members of The Inner Circle are not open to the idea of MJF joining their ranks, but MJF stated his desire for a "genuine friendship" with everyone in The Inner Circle.
"Like I said flat out, me and Chris, we have a bond. Also, I've said this out loud, Inner Circle's the best group right now in professional wrestling," MJF said. "I understand if I want to become the AEW World Champion, I need to be in this group straight up. I want to have genuine friendships with these guys. I really like all these guys. I like my little bud Sammy [Guevara]. I like Ortiz. I like Santana. I like [Jake] Hager. Go Hager. Big W recently. That was awesome, and obviously, I totally love Chris man. He's my BFF for life.
"It's unfortunate right now that it's taking time for them to get to understand that I am a great person. I am fun to be around. I'm the life of the party, but I'm also a business. There's so many reasons why you should want to hang out with me, but I'm not gonna force it on anybody. I want it to happen organically, and if these guys feel the need to blow off some steam in the ring and have a friendly exhibition, let's have at it. Let's have fun."
MFJ will have his chance to join The Inner Circle if he defeats Chris Jericho at Full Gear. However, some fans have theorized that MJF and the other members of The Inner Circle are secretly working together and are plotting to kick Jericho out. MJF gave his thoughts on those theories.
"That is furiously ridiculous," MJF proclaimed. "I want to make something perfectly clear because I see these things. I see them on the Twitter, and the Instagram, and Facebook and the Reddit. I'm not trying to turn on Chris Jericho. I'm not trying to turn on Inner Circle. I'm not trying to turn on Sammy [or] Jake. I'm not trying to have them join some new crazy crew. That is not my intention.
"I've already made my intention known several times. I want to become the AEW World Champion. The best way to do that is to be a part of the best group and to be able to learn from the wealthy tree of knowledge that is Christopher Jericho. We are talking about an absurd amount of years in this business, 30 years. 30 years of knowledge. I mean who wouldn't want to soak that in? So for all the people that are saying that, I believe their s–t stirrers. I believe that they're imposters.
"I believe that all they're trying to do is make that wedge big, and I believe that's why my little buddy Sammy Guevara has an issue with me because he, unfortunately, is reading these things on social media. And it's causing him to have this anxiety about me. I'm a good person. I have zero interest in turning on them. I have zero interest in creating some sort of secondary group offset from their group. All of these things that I have read, they're all ridiculous. Nothing crazy is happening here. I just want to join The Inner Circle. That's it."
MJF continued pointing out that wrestling fans are always trying to read between the lines and guess what happens next. MJF asserted that there is no turn coming and that he wants to do business with Jericho.
"I feel that people love to read in between the lines. Pro wrestling fans, genuinely, do a lot," MJF noted. "They'll try to guess what's going to happen next, and then when it doesn't happen, they get upset, and they throw a little fit. 'Aw, this thing I wanted to happen didn't happen.' Unfortunately, for all these people that think they're dealing with this type of scenario in their head where there's going to be a turn, there is no turn. The reason why I 'turned' on Cody Rhodes is because Cody Rhodes turned on me first. Chris Jericho's a good person. I'm a good person. I'm ready to do good business with Chris Jericho."
MJF has stated his confidence that he will join The Inner Circle, but Hausman asked MJF what happens next if he were to fall short at Full Gear. MJF said it would be "back to the drawing board" before praising himself as "a pro wrestling puppeteer".
"It's back to the drawing board," MJF admitted. "Let's face the facts here. I'm the most intelligent man in professional wrestling. I'm a pro wrestling puppeteer. I think seven steps ahead of everybody, and that's why I laugh when I read some of these conspiracy theories online where people try to guess what my next move is going to be. You never know what my next move is going to be, but but I do, and I always will.
"If I lose, which I don't foresee that happening. I've never lost in the history of AEW. You cannot count my loss to Jon Moxley as a legitimate loss. There's an asterisk next to it. It's the equivalent of Barry Bonds hitting the most home runs in the history of the MLB. It's meaningless. I am 'The Undefeated, Undisputed Uncrowned AEW World Champion of All Elite Wrestling.' Do I think I'm gonna lose this match? No. Do I feel this is going to be one of the greatest match in the history of the company? Absolutely. I tend to do that whenever I go out there.
"I tend to make jaws drop, which is something people forget because I'm so good at my job when I'm on the stick, but I also happen to be one of the best wrestlers in the world, and Christopher, obviously, is one of the greatest if not the greatest of all time. So I just want people to sit back, relax, grab a can of Coke, make some popcorn, I'm sure heavily buttered because you're all large and just enjoy the show. Just enjoy the show."
MJF will battle Chris Jericho in a match to determine if he joins the Inner Circle this Saturday night at AEW Full Gear. For more information please visit www.allelitewrestling.com. MJF's full interview aired as part of today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.